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A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 13, 2025

Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures

Violators will be punishable with up to six months' imprisonment or a maximum fine of ¥500,000 ($3,380).
Both priest and participant bow in recognition and readiness for the practice of zazen.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 25, 2025

The art of taking a pause: Discover the 1,000-year-old meditation technique of zazen in Tokyo's temples

Thousands of years later, in Japan the practice continues under the name "zazen."
Prime Minsiter Shigeru Ishiba
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 13, 2025

Ishiba Cabinet disapproval rises to 44%

It was the highest level since the launch of Ishiba's administration in October last year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the prime minister's official residence on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025

Opposition blasts Ishiba over gift certificates given to LDP lawmakers

Ishiba gave gift certificates worth ¥100,000 each to over 10 new lawmakers, sources have said. The prime minister apologized but said the move was not illegal.
Tucked away behind the historic Tsuchida sake brewery, Ventinove's location and sleek, angular architecture make for impressive destination dining.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Mar 16, 2025

At Ventinove, Tuscan specialties taken to new heights

A former Italian favorite in Tokyo now enjoys a renaissance in a bucolic village in Gunma Prefecture.
“Ravens” stars Tadanobu Asano as Masahisa Fukase, a real-life figure who was known for his photos of the psychedelic party scene of 1960s Shinjuku, portraits of his wife and images of the ravens of his home prefecture of Hokkaido.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2025

‘Ravens’ is a portrait of art, love and inner demons

Director Mark Gill brings the turbulent life of celebrated photographer Masahisa Fukase into focus in his new film.
Artist Adrian Steckeweh 3-D prints otherworldly clothes and accessories for himself, in a way augmenting his reality with tangible objects.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2025

Augmented reality artist Omega C navigates a precarious scene for XR art

Just this year, XR art featured heavily in the digital art festival Dig Shibuya and is the focus of the ongoing “Machine Love” exhibition at Mori Art Museum.
Takuya “Moby” Okamoto after Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, which the Cubs went on to win in seven games to snap a 108-year drought
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 14, 2025

In a sea of Dodger Blue, Japanese superfan ready to cheer on the Cubs

The Dodgers may garner the lion's share of attention in Japan among MLB clubs, but don't tell that to Takuya “Moby” Okamoto, Japan's biggest Cubs fan.
Urbanization is amplifying pollen-related allergies as grasslands and soft soil give way to concrete and asphalt.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 14, 2025

As pollen season peaks, Japan's allergy struggle emerges from hibernation

In Tokyo and Sendai, high cedar pollen levels will persist into late March, followed by cypress pollen peaking from late March to early April.
Kyoko Watanabe made a home for herself in Ishinomaki after moving there to participate in disaster relief efforts following 3/11, and now operates a business focused on the creative reuse of <i>akiya</i> (abandoned houses).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 17, 2025

From abandoned houses to ‘creative communities’: An Ishinomaki entrepreneur's vision for rural Japan

Kyoko Watanabe moved to Miyagi Prefecture to help with disaster relief efforts following 3/11. She ended up building a company and a vision for revitalizing rural Japan.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani arrives for practice on Friday at Tokyo Dome.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 14, 2025

Hype reaches fever pitch as Ohtani and the Dodgers get set for games in Tokyo

Shohei Ohtani talked about getting over jet lag and his excitement for the Tokyo Series as the Dodgers prepare to put on a show for Japanese fans.
Idled blast furnaces at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works in Granite City, Illinois, in July 2017
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2025

U.S. Steel activist investor boosts holding in turnaround push

The move comes as hope for the deal that drew massive attention during the 2024 American presidential election has shown little progress.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called South African Ambassador to the U.S. Ebrahim Rasool "a race-baiting politician who hates America and hates @POTUS," referring to U.S. President Donald Trump by his White House X account handle.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2025

U.S. expels South African ambassador, saying he 'hates' Trump

The expulsion of the ambassador — a very rare move by the United States — is the latest development in rising tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
Then-Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa presents a gift to a Ukrainian refugee during the Women, Peace and Security session as part of the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction at the Japan Business Federation in February last year.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2025

Japan recognized 1,661 'quasi-refugees' in 2024

Protection was given to 1,618 Ukrainians, 17 people from Syria, 13 from Myanmar, 11 from Sudan, and one each from Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears on a screen in a courtroom at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 15, 2025

Duterte’s swift descent from ‘Punisher’ president to inmate

Duterte's team seemed unconcerned about rumors that the International Criminal Court might issue an arrest warrant against him. It was a fatal mistake.
Thames Water's Beddington Sewage Treatment Works near Croydon, south London, on Friday. Thames Water, and other British water companies privatized since 1989, are under fire for allowing the discharge of large quantities of sewage into rivers and the sea.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 15, 2025

A stain on Britain: Sewage contaminates its waterways and seas

Failings with the most basic services in British society, such as water and sewage, have been harming the broader U.K. economy.
A U.S. Navy ship fires missiles at an undisclosed location, after President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, in this screen shot.
WORLD
Mar 16, 2025

Trump launches large-scale strikes against Yemen's Houthis

The strikes — which could last days and maybe weeks — are the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer leaves a luncheon on Thursday in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2025

U.S. Democrats fume as some in party cave to Trump on spending bill

Congressional passage of the controversial spending bill was being seen as a setback for Democratic backbenchers.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, marked by betrayal and disregard for relationships, has weakened America’s global alliances, prompting countries to consider alternative allies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2025

America is surrounded by enemies — that it created

This is not just a Trump problem; America’s whole reputation is shot.
Emergency responders gather outside the site of a deadly night-club fire in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, on Sunday.
WORLD
Mar 16, 2025

Toll in Northern Macedonia hip-hop gig blaze rises to 59: interior minister

Thirty-one of the dead were residents of Kocani, the eastern town where the concert took place.
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, at the El Salvador International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, in this image released on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

U.S. flies alleged gang members to El Salvador despite court block

Legal experts called the move the most radical test of America's system of checks and balances since the Civil War.
Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

Chiba Gov. Toshihito Kumagai wins reelection bid as turnout dips

Voter turnout was 31.93%, down from 38.99% in the previous election four years ago.
Takashi Tachibana, leader of the Party to Protect the People from NHK, delivers his first campaign speech for the Chiba gubernatorial election on Feb. 27 in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

Controversial candidate draws criticism in Chiba election

Takashi Tachibana mainly campaigned in Hyogo Prefecture, hundreds of kilometers away.
One year on from the Bank of Japan's historic rate hike, the biggest winners are the banks.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 17, 2025

Banks boom and shoppers scrimp a year after Japan’s rate pivot

Higher borrowing costs are also fueling a political battle over how the government can rein in its outlays.
The BayStars used data analytics to inform the decision to have Hayato Horioka pitch against the Giants last fall. The bet paid off, with Horioka helping to seal the game and Yokohama advancing to the championship.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 17, 2025

'Moneyball' disciples aim to upend Japanese baseball for second year

Yokohama is honing its indicators that predict how well a pitcher will perform at any given moment.
Johan Leutwiler checks a sword he made at his workshop studio in the Kui district of Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 24, 2025

Japan's first foreign swordsmith opens workshop in Hiroshima Prefecture

Johan Leutwiler hopes to promote the charm of Japanese swords following the completion of his five-year apprenticeship.
By promoting healthier aging through measures to extend workforce participation, increase social engagement and improve health care systems, Asia’s policymakers could create a “silver demographic dividend” that helps to sustain the region’s economic dynamism.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2025

Reaping Asia’s silver demographic dividend

Concerns that older workers are not as productive as their younger counterparts are overblown.
An aerial view of Thames Water's Beddington Sewage Treatment Works near Croydon, south London on Friday. Thames Water — and other British water companies privatized since 1989 — are under fire for allowing the discharge of large quantities of sewage into rivers and the sea.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 17, 2025

A stain on Britain: Sewage contaminates its waterways and seas

The pollution affects the seafood and tourism industries, while delaying construction projects and hampering the economy.
A conceptual image of a jacket that can automatically adjust the temperature inside it to a level that is the most comfortable for the wearer, to be showcased by Tohan Denshi Kiki and others at the Osaka Expo
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 17, 2025

Local manufacturers to show futuristic products at Osaka Expo

Products to be showcased at the Expo include a jacket that can automatically adjust the temperature inside it.
Tokyo Creative Salon combines elements of design, fashion and less easily categorizable artistic disciplines.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 18, 2025

Tokyo Creative Salon sees the city as both runway and canvas

Through March 23, Tokyo’s streets, shopping centers and civic spaces will host an interdisciplinary celebration of creativity.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan